LEVIATHAN WAKES

BY

JAMES S.A.COREY

This is the first in a sequence of six novels.  You may already have caught sight of it in the form of the opening season on Netflix of the series, The Expanse.  The little I've seen, and it is little - a single episode - looked good.  This novel and the next two in the series  that I've read so far [Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate] are way more than good.  They are some of the best what's called hard S.F. I've read for years.  But before expressing opinions, a little about the plot and narrative.

Set in a galaxy not so far away - in fact our own solar system.   Mankind has colonised Mars, the moon and the Asteroid Belt.  So, we have a familiar set up - three groups. the Earthers, the Martians and the Belters, needing each other, but in an uneasy alliance and relationship.  Lots of pride and contempt and suspicion and potential animosity all mixed together and firing off between these three nations.  All human in origin, but physiologically diverging, particularly the Belters who are long and tall and thin through  the lighter gravity of their existence. 

Sounds like it could be a commentary on world relationships now, but I'm glad to say that this is no socio-philosophising, thinly disguised allegory of our times.  Or if it is, it is also a full-on action packed space saga.  Nor is it just slam bang action with no thought.  The plot focuses in turn on a number of important characters [usually about six in each novel] a chapter at a time, switching backwards and forwards often with cliff-hanging moments at the end of a chapter.  It may be a tried and trusted formula, but it works and works brilliantly.

This is partly because the writers [no that's not a typo] know how to create characters that engage and intrigue the reader.  You want to know what happens next not just for the plot's sake, but for the sake of these people that we've started to get to know and see progressing and developing.  This success too may be related to the fact that we've got two writers here, that James S.A. Corey is the pseudonym for fantasy writer Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.  The latter, significantly I believe, is assistant to  George R.R. Martin!  And there are definite elements that make me think of Game of Thrones all the way and not in any cheap imitation manner, but simply having all the best qualities that I associate with that mammoth series of books.

I say "best" deliberately because this is for me much more tightly plotted and far less sprawling than GOT can be at times.  Anyway, back to the story.  Though there are many characters, the one who becomes most important is Jim Holden and the crew initially of a beat-up ice-mining space vessel. [Can't help thinking of Joss Wheedon's Firefly here!]  To say much more is a problem without ruining some early suspense in your reading.

Safe to say, into this comes one HUGE Hitchcockian MacGuffin [though perhaps, reverse MacGuffin might be more accurate, as it is mightily important to the plot] - the protomolecule and some very nasty things start to happen.  On the way to finding out some of the twists and turns of this plot, you'll meet a variety of the good and the bad with personal and political motives, skulduggery and in-fighting, reversals of fortune and more.

I wholeheartedly recommend this first book and the whole series to you.   It's one of those that you must keep reading, but don't want it to end.  What better can I say?

RUNEWARS

MINIATURES GAME

Runewars Miniatures Game is the inevitable and most recent manifestation of the world of Terrinoth.  Over roughly the last 13 years, various aspects of this fantasy realm have been explored through a series of distinct games.  Runebound in 2004 was the first to take us to this world with a relatively conventional map board divided in to hexes to game on with cards and tokens and it retained these basic features through three editions.  Next came Runewars, which moved play to a map generated by the players made up of large hexagonal tiles, while the focus on individual characters questing through the land transformed into warring races.  So far, so competitive.  More recently, Descent: Journeys In The Dark and then Descent: Journeys In The Dark 2nd edition [see my earlier review for my thoughts on the latter] took us in a new direction to the largely cooperative world of [mainly]dungeon quests played out on various sized tiles with plastic heroes and monsters, cards and tokens. 

I have to say that my own journey has been a steady progress upwards.  Runebound did not satisfy my interest in fantasy gaming and as result I have to admit that I did not venture into Runewars at all.  However, Descent: Journeys In The Dark 2nd edition was a very different and positive experience.

So, where are we now?  That should be pretty self-explanatory from the legend on the box:  A Miniatures Game of Epic Battles.  This is fairly conventional tabletop figure gaming where the focus is on the figures and the fighting.  No board, because, as is the norm with this genre of game, your table top literally is the board.  Again typical of such starter packages for professionally marketed battle systems, there are a few [in this case four] items of cardboard terrain provided.  These are perfectly satisfactory, but again conventional. The key factors for any such product is the quality of the figures and the rules.

The four cardstock pieces of terrain

As I usually do, when there's some solid hardware like figures to be evaluated, that's where I'm going to start - and these for me more than pass the test.  They are good solid plastic, well-sculpted with minimal assembly.  To give some potential comparison, though I love the game and figures in Deadzone 2nd edition, they were a nightmare to assemble, with multiple pieces for most of the figures, glue necessary for all the figures and no assembly diagrams in the normal retail box itself [they had to be sought for online and were essential to avoid making mistakes with many of the figures].  The task took me hours and hours and hours, though worth it in the end, and that was before even thinking about painting them.

Here, the job is really easy.  Many of the figures come in just three pieces - head, torso and legs.  In many cases you can simply snap them together and you have a very solid figure.  [Personally, I still prefer a spot of glue on all my models for added security.]  What's more the Learn To Play manual contains clear diagrams for assembly and even a couple of pages on painting the figures and creating terrain.

In all, this core package gives you the beginnings of two opposing armies, featuring two standard types of unit and two individual characters for each race. 

The Daqans are essentially the humans, with 16 spearmen and four cavalry and their two individual characters are a Rune Golem and a Wraithstalker.  Opposing them are the Waiqar Undead in the form of 16 Reanimate infantry and 8 Reanimate archers, plus for their individuals, a Carrion Lancer and an Ardus Ix'Erebus.

Daqan spearmen in fairly compact formation.

Daqan Rune Golem

[Here are just the first two pictures to wet your appetite.  I'll seed more photos through the review.  The terrain I've placed them on is part of my substantial collection of Kallistra hex tiles] 
In terms of numbers of figures, this is a reasonable quantity for the average price of the game [£80-£85], but in game play terms it gives you only two units and two individuals on each side.  The limitations of this will be discussed later when I consider game play in more depth. 

The models themselves I do like, especially the Undead archers, both for the detail on them and the four poses.  This variety of poses which is a feature of all the groups of figures is a definite plus and adds considerably to the effect on the tabletop.

Not the clearest shot, but I think the dynamic quality of the poses is still effectively seen here, as is displayed by the Daqan cavalry below.

A unit of Daqan cavalry

You can see with all the models that they come with base trays for ease of manoeuvre about the battlefield and also to help in constructing the various formations that they can adopt as each holding tray is designed to connect easily with another in all four directions.

Along with each unit and character figure comes the other essential piece of hardware - what they've chosen to call the Command Tool.  Those familiar with X-Wing, as I am, will have no trouble in recognising the mechanism for giving each of your forces its orders.  It's a development moving from a single dial to pre-plan a unit's move to a double dial that combines the effect of the essential move dial with the second dial's modifiers.  All is done by symbols, many, though not all, being fairly self-explanatory.  Among the changes that I like is the fact that the choice of move has an accompanying number that determines play order rather than the fixed initiative rating in X-Wing.

Here is the Command Tool for the Daqan Spearmen unit with its pair of dials, one  for issuing its order on the left and the dial on the right adds modifiers.   Each order is set by the dials and then placed near to its corresponding unit. 

If you feel that this disrupts the aesthetics of the battlefield, then it's very easy to set them at the rear of your playing area, as the picture of your unit on the Command Tool makes each easily identifiable.  
Should you be fielding more than one unit of the same type, a simple corresponding numbered marker is used to identify each one.  However, for that, you're going to have to invest in the additional packs of figures, stands and Command Tools that should soon be available.

Above, in its entirety, is what you get to fight with in the core set - attractive, but very limited.  My immediate reaction was barely enough for a Skirmish game and certainly not a battle.  That reaction was spot on, as I later read in the Rules Reference booklet [one of three booklets in this core set], where you are introduced to what is described as "a faster, smaller alternative to a full battle."  This is - a Skirmish.  This limitation is the major uncertainty that I have with the package.  Once inside the package, it is made perfectly clear that to play a "standard" game expansions sets will be necessary.

The creators obviously envisage that you may be playing with a friend who also owns a copy and so, between you, there will be enough for a standard game.  Their intention too is that this first purchase will be part of an army building process where individual players will tend to focus on one race and enjoy expanding their range of units and characters to support that race.  So, be advised of these limitations of play, if you are thinking of venturing in to the world of Terrinoth.  You will initially be able to play only a small skirmish game.

In all honesty, this is highly typical of all figure-based games that I know and so perhaps the key question is whether this new entry into the field of fantasy army figures offers at least as good an experience as what is already out there and perhaps better.

Before giving my personal judgement, let's look at the rest of the contents, some minor, some major.  As always there are tokens - in this case a fairly modest number, but certainly adequate for the number of units in the game.

The majority of these are the Boon & Bane tokens [i.e. good & bad bonuses] and the Bane tokens greatly outweigh the Boon ones.  Perhaps there is nothing particularly original in their effects, but what I like one hundred percent is that when your unit has acquired one or more of these adverse-effect tokens, it is up to your opponent when to call them into effect.   As an example, one type of Bane token [Stun] cancels the modifier dial's  effect.  So, your opponent may decide that the current modifier isn't significant enough to be worth cancelling and wait, hopefully, to cancel a more damaging modifier in a later turn.

There are the inevitable wound tokens [the purple tokens with red crosses in the picture above] and another item that I warm to are the five Energy tokens that represent magic in this game [bottom left of the above picture].  These are double-sided and randomly thrown at the end of each Turn, to form a pool ready for use in the next turn.  The symbols on them match with ones in some of the rules or on some of the cards and components in the game.  Each identical symbol in the pool increases the effect of the symbol that you are using.  So, if you were using a card with a symbol that caused damage and there were 3 matching Energy symbols in the pool, then you would cause 3 damage.

Equally to be expected are the dice used in combat.

Differing numbers of dice and colours are thrown depending on the type of unit attacking.  The symbols are easily learned as there are only five - Hits [the starbursts],  Morale [the coiled circles], Surges [lightning bolts], Mortal Strike [left hand symbol on lower white die] and Accuracy [visible on top white die - on same face as Hit symbol].  Nearly all are self-explanatory and the Surge symbol, which has become fairly familiar from games like X-Wing, allows a unit or character's special ability to be activated, as noted on the card associated with the piece.

Equally familiar from X-Wing are the different measuring sticks for movement, such as those below. 

Attractively produced, the addition of the small protrusion at the top and bottom also make them easier to use than many such measuring sticks.

Before looking at the three game booklets, it's worth returning to the Command Tool as this may be a deciding factor for some buyers.  The simpler, single-dial iteration of this design in X-Wing [and the somewhat similar manifestation - though only really a data device not a method of giving orders simultaneously -  in the multiplicity of Heroclix designs] was a huge success and introduced an attractive compact game piece that added greatly to the swift, smooth issuing of secret orders.  The new Command Tool does all that the earlier design did and more.  I genuinely think that this development of the double dial does take us a further step down the road of streamlining game play. 

First of all, the double dial caters for the much wider range of movement actions that land-based figure gaming demands with none of the ambiguity that so many rules systems seem to stumble into.  Secondly, one of the reasons that there are relatively few tokens in this game is that the second dial fulfils the task that multiple tokens often did duty for.  What's even better is that to be able to employ a particular modifier on the second dial, it must match the colour of the order given on the first dial.  No more having to remember a wide range of exceptions/limitations to what this type of unit can or cannot do [a drawback, not just in the figure gaming world, but with many, many sets of board wargame rules].  Instead, if the colours match, then they can be combined.

Finally, it's the turn of the three booklets:  titled Learn To Play, Rules Reference and Lore Guide.  The first two are fairly self-evident.  The Learn To Play booklet takes you through all the basic elements of playing the game and including how to assemble your figures and a very brief section on painting and terrain.  Like all three booklets, it is lavishly illustrated with plenty of very good examples of play and one enticing shot of all the figures based and painted on a tabletop, well supplied with terrain, that will have you positively itching to get painting and started in play.  The rules themselves are clear and well explained and of moderate complexity, made even easier for the reasons I've mentioned in the paragraph above.  With them under your belt, you're good to go with your first Skirmish.

The second booklet , Rules Reference, takes you a step further introducing you to the concept of Army Building in order to have a full Battle game as opposed to the small Skirmish already learnt.  In essence, the latter is a 100 pts game while the former is up to double that at 200 pts - though you can obviously field even larger armies if you want to.  The basic play area for a Skirmish is 3' x 3' and for a Battle 3' x 6' - once again players are free to modify according to their needs and wishes. 

High on my list of likes in this booklet is the ability to customise different sized formations for your various types of figure.  The more stands in your formation obviously the more costly in points to spend [e.g. the smallest formation of Spearmen costs 18 pts, while the largest costs 59 pts].  Nothing out of the ordinary, you might say, but the important corollary is that the size of formation also increases the number of types of possible Upgrades that you can purchase for the formation.  Neat idea.

The Waiqar Carrion Crawler individual character

I sincerely hope too that it will be possible to buy additional Command Tools, so that you can field different sized formations of the same type of unit in your Army.  What I find disappointing is that, continuing to use the Spearmen as an example, even with two core sets of the game you don't have enough figures and stands to field the largest formation.  In fact, if you have only the core set, you would have to buy three expansion packs in order to have the largest possible Spearmen formation in your Army.

After this introduction to Army building, the rest of the booklet is essentially an excellent alphabetical glossary.  Each entry significantly expands in detail on concepts/rules introduced in the Lets Play booklet and in a few cases introduces new ones.  For  gamers familiar with figure systems, you'll probably not need to refer much to these entries, but for those less familiar they really do spell everything out and for those "argumentative" gamers out there, it should stop a few squabbles before they start!!

The last booklet is The Lore Guide [featuring a picture on the front of a character looking remarkably like Leoric of The Book from the game Descent: Journeys In The Dark 2nd edition.]   This is a 32 page immersion in the world of Terrinoth.  It blends elements of a fictional story with imagined extracts from letters, chronicles, transcripts of an oral recital and more.  Personally, this sort of inclusion does not add greatly to my experience of a game.  But both as a completist and as a reviewer I read steadily through everything and, as expected, the text covers all the familiar tropes of fantasy fiction.  It is beautifully presented and extensively illustrated and represents a significant investment of effort on the design team's part.

Waiqar Infantry

So, to my concluding thoughts.  The more I've delved and explored this product, the more I've warmed to it.  The single downside is the cost to field a full army is fairly high.  So, getting a friend who wants to explore this game too would be a handy asset.  Quality throughout is great and I've highlighted what I think is special, as I've gone along.  To emphasise : very good figures and those I've seen painted-up look superb.  [Oh, no, when am I going to find time to start mine?]  As always that's a hefty task, but identical to any figure painting jobs.  The dials for command work very, very well and greatly simplify game play and the rules are clear and execution smooth.  If you are looking for a fantasy figures system, I think that this is well worth your attention.  If you already have a system of choice -BEWARE.  Sample this one and you may just find yourself starting a whole new collection!

  

Sherman Tanks

British Army and Royal Marines 

Normandy Campaign 1944

by

Dennis Oliver

 This book has surprised me. I am a Duesenberg, and not a Ford Model T person. So the 'Model T' of tanks, the Sherman, has never impressed me. I knew it was rugged and dependable, but I also knew it was known as the 'Tommy cooker'. It was a perfect tank up until 1943. In the last two years of the war, its reputation went downhill. The Sherman armor was not up to snuff when playing with the German big cats: Panthers and Tigers. By 1943 the Sherman's short 75mm gun was also not powerful enough. Even with the issues mentioned above, the Sherman did have some good points. It was easy to drive, was fast, and could be repaired quickly. The Sherman was meant to be mass produced, and was it ever. It is the third most produced tank in history!(the most produced tank was not the T-34, but the t-54/55 if you include all of the Chinese models of it).

 The book starts with short history of the Sherman, and then goes into its use in British armored formations. This then segues into a history of each British armored division or brigade in the Normandy campaign.

 Then the book has twelve colored pages of front and side pictures of all different types and models of Shermans', including the model V with the 17 pounder gun. The author believes that the term 'Firefly' for this version was not used in WWII. These pictures are excellent material for all of us model builders.

 We get into the model section next. There are six different models showcased from world class model builders. The two that stick out to me are the Sherman Crab (this had a revolving bar with heavy chains attached to set off mines), and the BARV(Beach Armored recovery Vehicle). I am a sucker for armor oddities or tanks that had  very low production figures. The BARV is soon to be available from ROCHM Model for both Dragon and Tasca kits.

 Next in line is a rundown of all of the different kits in the 1/35 and 1/48 scale. The pages right after this are for all of the metal and resin add-ons that you can buy to trick out your next Sherman kit. The book ends with a few more pages of background on the different Sherman production models and some more history.

 This book, along with the one on Tigers I-II that I just reviewed, are great books for someone who wants a short history of these tanks that are filled with facts and pictures of them. Their obvious audience are modellers. For this group the books are of tremendous value. 


Robert 

Book: Sherman Tanks British Army and Royal Marines Normandy Campaign 1944
Author: Dennis Oliver
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Do you fancy yourself a game designer, full of great ideas that you want to transform into a real product? Maybe you just need the right tools to get started. Check out this Kickstarter for The White Box, which promises to give you the bits and pieces and advice that you need to turn those ideas into a prototype, and that prototype into a real game on the shelf.

I will be chronicling the use of this box to create a couple prototypes of my own later this year when it releases. If you want to try it for yourself, head over to the Kickstarter now, there are only a few days left.

Kickstarter Link Here

- Joe Beard

Red Army Tanks of World War II

by

Tim Bean and Will Fowler

  Red Army tanks of World War II; not pretty or state of the art, but extremely effective nonetheless. 

 This book is a history of not only the Soviet Tanks of World II, but also a history of tanks in the Soviet Union before and after the war.  The book has a photograph or line drawing with specifications on each page.

 The book itself is split into ten sections. These are:

The birth of the tank arm

 Deep battle

Light tanks

Medium and fast tanks

The T-34

Heavy tanks

Late war tanks

Foreign tanks in Soviet service

Stalin's legacy

Appendix

 The story of Soviet tanks starts with the Russian Revolution, and continues into the Civil War between the Whites and Reds (among  others of various shades also). The Soviets captured their first tanks, which were World War I surplus, from the various White forces. 

 You are then shown how the Army and government were behind not only buying other countries' tanks, but also wanted to develop their own types and factories. Strangely, the Germans and Soviets collaborated for a few years from 1927 on. The Germans were not allowed tanks by the Versailles treaty. This cooperation between the two countries may seem strange to us today, with our knowledge of the history soon to be enacted between the two.  At the time, it was a way for both armies and governments to work on tank development without any prying eyes.

 The next part of the book deals with the 'Deep Battle' Soviet concept. On the outside it pretty much seems like the first attempt by any army to develop what would later be called 'Blitzkrieg'. Two things happened to kill the idea and usage of "Deep Battle'. First was Stalin's purge of the Soviet Armed forces. Almost all of the officers who were involved with the creation of 'Deep Battle' or its usage were murdered or exiled to the Gulags. The second was the use of the Soviet tanks at that time in the Spanish civil war. Most European countries used this as a test bed for their different armaments. The general in charge of the Soviet expeditionary force came away with the idea that tanks were useless unless used in the infantry support role. This meant that both the Western Allies and the Soviets had reverted to a World War I usage of tanks, while the Germans who had little or no experience with their own tanks were free to work on their own ideas. 

  The book then goes into all of the different Soviet light tanks and their usage. Next, the Soviet medium and fast tanks are showcased. The importance of the 'Christie' tank and the convoluted story of its arrival in the Soviet Union is gone over in detail. The 'Christie' tank was actually made by a U.S. manufacturer, but his design, while revolutionary, was not take to heart by the Western Allies at the time. The opposite was true of the Soviet Union, which is obvious by looking at their subsequent tank designs.

 The T-34 is gone over next in complete detail from inception to its last usage. As is befitting of such a design, it occupies a large part of the book all on its own.

 Heavy tanks are brought to our attention next. The various multi-turreted monsters of the various nations, along with the Soviets, are gone through. They all look quaint in a way, and they make you wonder what the different engineers and designers were thinking. The story of the SMK tank shows how well the writers have gone into their subjects. When Stalin was presented with the original clay model of the SMK, a fight of sorts broke out. Originally the SMK was to be a three turreted design. To cut to the chase, and end the bickering, Stalin snapped off one of the turrets saying "Why turn a tank into a department store?". The book also shows how deeply Stalin was involved from the beginning with tank development and construction. Strangely, the designers were able to have give and take dialogues with the fearsome dictator. The book goes into all of the Heavy Soviet tanks, and also its tank destroyers. Among them are my favorites: the SU and ISU152. This monster was given the nickname 'zvierboy' or 'animal hunter' for its ability to take on German Tigers and Panthers. The lend lease American and British tanks are then shown, and likes and dislikes of the Soviet tankers to the different models are told.

 In 'Stalin's Legacy' we are shown the generations of tanks from WWII to the Cold War, and the resurgence of the 'Deep Battle' concept. An appendix follows that shows exactly how many tanks of what series were produced, and also gives some German versus Soviet tanks numbers in a few picked battles of the Eastern Front. 

 This book is easy to recommend to anyone who is interested in not just Soviet tanks, but also in their history and development.

Robert

Book: Red Army Tanks of World War II

Authors: Tim Bean, Will Fowler

Publisher: Amber Books

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Phantom leader for the PC

by 

Dan Verssen Games

 This is a PC port of a boardgame from the same developer. In it you get the chance to play the United States Navy or Air Force in three different campaigns. They are:

1965 - This campaign takes place mostly in South Vietnam, and the gist of the campaign is to choke off munitions etc. coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

1967 - This campaign takes place in North Vietnam. As the U.S. player, you are allowed to attack only some targets. This was because of a strategy called 'gradualism'. In a nutshell, you are allowed to attack some targets while others are 'held hostage'. This was an attempt to bring the North Vietnamese to a peace conference.

1972 - This is Operation Linebacker. It also takes place in North Vietnam. In this scenario, you as the U.S. player can go for broke. You are attempting to punish North Vietnam so severely that they have no other recourse than to discuss a peaceful settlement to the Vietnam war.

 The game looks pretty simple for a PC game, and as usual looks can be deceiving. The graphics and play are not going to task anyone's computer. As mentioned it is a boardgame port, and unlike most of them is very true to the original boardgame.

 First you choose what campaign you will play, and then you pick which U.S. service you will command. The length of your game can be short, medium, or long. the shortest scenario is only two days, and the longest one is twelve days. The campaigns are listed on the left of the above pic. You can see that you will be evaluated during the scenario on a points system. The grades are as follows: Great, Good, Adequate, Poor, and Dismal.

  You are given a wide array of planes to use during your missions. They are:

Phantom II

F-105 Thunderchief

F-100 Super Sabre

F-104 Starfighter

A-4 Skyhawk

F-8 Crusader

A-6 Intruder

EB-66 Destroyer

A-7 Corsair II 

 You have only a certain amount of pilots of each rating that you can use. The ratings are:

Newbie

Green

Average

Skilled

Veteran

 You might also get the chance to promote some pilots at the beginning of a scenario.

 This is the first screen of where you will choose your targets.

 This screen shows the targets from the deck that you are able to attack. 

 This screen is the actual one where your mission will take place. Notice the North Vietnamese assets set up in the middle of the page.

 You also have an event card deck that you can use.

 The rule book is accessible on every page. it is well written, and easy to follow.

 Here is a page from the rule book showing the North Vietnamese defenses you will meet, and the counters from the U.S. side.

 This is a shot of my planes during the setup of the mission.
 

  The great thing about the game is it is a very well done PC conversion of a boardgame. The only problem that I can see will be with straight PC users who have not played boardgames. What I mean by that is the game does not spoon feed you. A lot of PC boardgames do everything but play the game for you. With this game you will have to read the rules to understand better about what is happening game wise.

 The game has fairly short campaigns; as mentioned, some are only two days long. So pre-planning is a must, and sometimes a little luck with die rolls is also good.

 This game is more like a hardcore RPG or a management simulation than other wargames. In this game you do feel like you are in charge of these pilots. You have to manage and juggle the different pilots' stress, status, and their overall well being. Whereas in most games where you can just go for broke and attempt to win that hex before turn 10 (no matter what the cost in cardboard or computer lives), this time around your actual leadership skills are taken into account. The immersion factor is high because you have a name and  few individualized stats. You are not just ordering the 3rd battalion to take that town or whatever. Strangely, I like the game even though I do not seem to be good at it at all. Playing it does not make you throw your hands up in disgust though. You just fire it up one more time to see if this time you can actually get it  right. For you solitary players out there, this game is an easy one to give a recommendation to.


Robert